


The Ones That Stay

by MacyAudenStar



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2014-01-04
Packaged: 2018-01-05 21:31:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1098809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MacyAudenStar/pseuds/MacyAudenStar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU: Post-Undertaking, the people that Oliver left behind grow closer together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is a thing I wrote. Laurel died when CNRI collapsed, Oliver still disappears, and the rest of them heal together.

Thea watched, mildly amused, as Tommy listened to Felicity talk animatedly on the other side of the bar, Carly next to her, sipping a rum and coke with laughter in her eyes. Thea was grateful, really, that Tommy was helping her out, especially on the busy nights, but she couldn’t remember the last time she saw him do anything that looked remotely enjoyable. The Tommy she remembered was lively and flirty and fun. The Tommy after the Undertaking was bruised and battered and broken. Although, every now and then he’d show a glimpse of the old Tommy that she knew and loved so much. Almost always when Felicity was around, which didn’t escape Thea’s notice.

Now he was wiping down the bar, pretending that he wasn’t paying attention to the spirited blonde that was rambling on about the terrible date that she went on the night before.

And Thea didn’t like it. Not the part where he watched Felicity, no she thought he and Felicity could be great together. It was everything else that she had a problem with. 

“Then he said, ’Binary gender roles are fun!’ And that was when I dumped my drink over his head and walked out of the restaurant,” Felicity said with a flourish. She took a drink from her wine glass, the wine that no one else ordered at Verdant, but that Thea and Tommy always made sure to keep on hand for their favorite IT girl.

“Have you seen him again since then?” Thea asked as she slid into a stool next to them. Tommy set a soda in front of her and she smiled gratefully. It’s not that she didn’t drink anymore, it’s that after re-opening Verdant, she didn’t want an excise officer to come in and see the underage owner drinking. They would shut her down in a minute.

Felicity shook her head quickly. “No. And I don’t know what I’m going to do when I do see him again. I don’t regret walking out the way I did, not really. But I should probably regret hacking his dating profile…” Carly cleared her throat and Felicity came back to the present. “That, my friends, is why you should never date anyone that you work with.”

“I don’t know about that,” Thea said with a grin. “I think that maybe that’s why you should let me set you up instead of looking on a dating website.” This was the fifth guy that Felicity had gone out with in the last three months, and they were all duds. Two seemed promising, but when Felicity had done a little digging after three dates – “Why have the skills if I’m not going to use them?” – she’d discovered that one of them had never held a job for longer than five months and was still living with his mother, and the other used to do runs for The Count. The latter was in jail thanks to an anonymous tip that made its way to Detective – no, Officer – Lance.

Felicity shook her head violently. “Nope. No more setups for me.”

“One time, Felicity, it was one time,” Carly started.

“I don’t care. It was a disaster, and it isn’t happening again.” Diggle joined them then, kissing Carly on the cheek and smiling in greeting at the rest of them.

“How was your date last night?” He asked.

Felicity groaned, and Carly and Tommy told John the story. “What were you drinking anyway?” Tommy asked over Digg’s laughter.

“Red wine. Why?”

“Just trying to picture it. I, myself, had one or two drinks thrown on me in my day, you know,” Tommy said with a grin, almost looking like the old Tommy. 

Felicity smiled at him, touching his hand lightly, “And I’m sure you didn’t deserve them at all, right?”

“I wouldn’t go that far. Red wine is really hard to get out, you know.” He smiled cheekily at her. “Good job.”

Thea snorted. “He had it coming, for sure. I can’t believe you went out with him to begin with, not with all those awkward flirting attempts.”

“I’m sorry, have you met me? I am nothing, if not awkward. How can I judge someone else for that? Besides, you’ve met him, he’s cute.” Felicity pursed her lips. “I thought he would get better. That he’d grow on me.”

Thea threw her head back and laughed. “Wow. Well, you did grow on us, I guess.”

“Like mold on cheese,” Tommy teased.

“Well, you’re stuck with me now,” Felicity said, sticking her tongue out at all of them. “And I’m obviously going to die an old maid, so you better figure out amongst yourselves who is going to take care of me and all of my cats.”

Felicity turned in her stool to ask Digg a question, and since she wasn’t paying them any attention, Thea turned to Tommy and raised her eyebrows. He shook his head in response, making Thea frown. It had been four months since the Undertaking, since CNRI collapsed with Tommy inside, impaling his leg and almost losing it, since Oliver fled the city to God only knows where, over his guilt about Laurel dying in the collapse. Both of them tried to save her – Thea knew Oliver’s secret, after finding the equipment in the foundry she finally got Felicity to tell her everything – but both were too late. 

Felicity barely even spoke of Oliver anymore, except to mention that he needed to get back to take care of QC before someone else took over. Thea had noticed that the blonde’s eyes lit up every time Tommy walked into the room and that Felicity’s little touches had begun to linger, Tommy was still convinced that she was still nursing old feelings for Oliver.

“I’ve already been down that road, Thea, with Laurel. I’m not going to do it again,” Tommy had said to her a month ago when she had mentioned he should ask Felicity out. Thea knew that Oliver had slept with Laurel not long after she and Tommy broke up. But Felicity wasn’t that type of girl. Sure, Felicity had admitted to having a crush on Oliver, but Thea wasn’t sure that it went too much further than that. Especially after he up and left them all. 

No, Felicity was pissed. To make up for it, she was there with Tommy every step of the way while he was in the hospital and during his physical therapy. She helped clean up Verdant, setting up the network and helping Thea in any other way she could. They had regular girls’ nights, sometimes with Carly, and Thea thought of Felicity as an older sister. One that she would love for Tommy to marry and have all his cute little babies.

Thea was convinced she’d be a great aunt. She’d spoil them rotten.

Tommy cleared his throat and Thea came back from her daydream, noticing that the others were staring at her. “Sorry?”

Digg smirked, as if he could see where her mind had ended up. She liked him, but hated that he always seemed to know exactly what everyone else was thinking. As if he came out of the army with mind reading powers of his own. Thea realized that Carly was standing next to him, her jacket already on, “Just getting ready to go, I’ll see you guys on Sunday, right?”

“Of course, I’ll be there,” Thea said quickly. Felicity nodded and hugged Digg and Carly both. They watched in silence as the couple walked out together. Or, she thought they were all watching the couple walk out together, but when she turned back to Felicity and Tommy, Thea noticed that Felicity was studying him intently.

Tommy set another glass of wine in front of Felicity and she took it with a small smile. “You’re so sweet. Why haven’t you been dating anyone lately? You must have girls lining up around the block.”

Tommy smirked. “Well, you know me, Smoak. I’m irresistible.”

Thea rolled her eyes at him, but took the bait. “She has a point, Merlyn. You haven’t been out on a date in ages.”

Tommy narrowed his eyes at her quickly, but grinned at Felicity. “Are you offering?”

“Maybe,” she teased. “I mean, you know my favorite wine, you always know to tell me how smart I am. You’re pretty good looking. What more could a girl ask for?”

“Pretty good looking? It’s the cane, isn’t it,” he joked, although Thea could hear the truth – and the uncertainty – behind the words. He was hardly using the cane anymore though, with his leg getting stronger every day.

“I don’t know, I kind of like the cane. Makes you look distinguished. Also, everyone knows the story of the heroic Tommy Merlyn. The cane is just part of that.” Felicity leaned over the bar just slightly to place a hand on Tommy’s arm. “You shouldn’t feel bad for something like that. You did a great thing.” She paused for a moment. “And, you stuck around Starling City, even after you got better. The heroes are the ones that stay, Tommy.”

Thea raised her eyebrows and leaned forward a little. Felicity looked like she was in her own little world, not even completely focused on Tommy. Felicity continued, clearly wanting to see her speech through, even as her cheeks turned pinker with every word. “I’m just saying, you shouldn’t sell yourself short, Tommy Merlyn.”

They were all quiet, Felicity embarrassed, Tommy in shock, and Thea in a quiet amusement that she didn’t know if she could hold onto much longer. Felicity finished her wine in one long swallow, then stood up quickly, not bothering to throw any money on the bar anymore because they never let her pay. “I should go. I have some work stuff I need to get done.”

Thea turned to Tommy as he watched her walk away. “What are you waiting for, you idiot?” She smacked his arm lightly. “If you don’t go after her right now, you’re fired.”

“I don’t know if you can fire someone you don’t pay,” Tommy said with a smirk, but he was throwing the towel down on the bar and jogging to catch up with Felicity, with only a slight limp noticeable. Thea watched from her spot at the bar as Tommy grabbed Felicity’s arm to stop her from leaving. He ran a hand through his hair and said something, Thea wasn’t sure what. But by the smile on Felicity’s face and the grin on his, she was fairly certain that he finally asked everyone’s favorite IT girl out.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick thank you to Girlwithsixsmiles for beta-ing this for me at the last minute!

Their date was a failure, Felicity decided. Just extremely awkward with both of them trying too hard. He was worried she still had Oliver on a pedestal. (Which she knew because Thea admitted it to her when they were picking out a date outfit.) She was worried he wasn’t over Laurel – how do you get over someone who died? Is there closure involved with that, really?

At the very least, she hoped they would continue being friends. She didn’t know what she would do without Tommy in her life. And she had practice with liking someone that didn’t like you back, lots of it, so that wouldn’t be an issue for her, really.

He shook her out of her reverie, thank goodness, when he said, “Do you remember when we first met? Like really met, not just in passing at Verdant?”

Felicity thought back to the day at the hospital. She’d been visiting him every day for a week and a half. He’d been in a coma since the Undertaking, Laurel’s funeral had passed, Oliver had already left town. But Felicity had been at Tommy’s bedside in her spare moments, willing him to wake up.

She’d fallen asleep in the chair when she heard, “Congratulations?”

Felicity nearly fell out of her chair in surprise at the rough voice coming from the person not three feet away from her in the hospital bed. She followed his eyes to look up at the balloon and blushed. “You’re not dead.”

Tommy winced as he shook his head. “No.”

She smiled weakly and gestured toward the balloon. “Congratulations. I…Well, you’ve been in here for a while and the other one deflated. This was the last balloon that the gift shop had available. The hospital is a little busy, but I wanted to make sure you had something…” Felicity trailed off, noticing that Tommy was looking around the room, barely listening to what she was saying. He turned to her, questions filling his eyes, about Laurel, Oliver, maybe even his father, no doubt. “I’m going to go flag down a nurse, now that you’re awake,” she said quickly before he could ask her anything.

“So, maybe that was a little weird. I tend to babble, you know that,” Felicity conceded, looking at Tommy from across the table. He looked really nice, not that he didn’t normally look nice, but he was wearing a black button up, the sleeves rolled up at his forearms. He had really great forearms, something that she’d noticed before, but didn’t mind noticing again.

He reached across the table for her hand and gave it a squeeze, effectively stopping her study of him and his forearms. “And I like that about you. So, how about you and I stop talking about the weather or the traffic on the way up here, huh?” Felicity grinned and Tommy smiled back widely. “How has work been going?”

“Really? You mock the weather, but you bring up work?” Tommy shrugged, but motioned for her to go on. “Actually, it’s okay, but it’s been months since Oliver left, and there is no real CEO right now. There’s a company, Stellmoor International, that is rumored to be taking over.”

Tommy frowned. “Stellmoor International? I’ve heard of them, but I’m not sure why.”

“Well, the company is really bad about layoffs. They take over QC, and 30,000 people will lose their jobs. I might be included in that,” she said quickly. “We won’t know if the rumors are true for at least three or four more weeks, but I wish I had a plan in place now to figure out what, exactly, to do to stop this from happening.”

“You are extraordinary, Felicity Smoak. You’ll figure something out.” After they finished their dinner, he insisted that she try one of each kind of cannoli from the restaurant, so they ordered three to go and one to share. When he walked her to her door after their date, he surprised her by kissing her cheek before leaving.

“Tommy, wait!” He turned around to look at her questioningly. “It’s still early, it’s a Saturday, come in and watch a movie with me. Have a cup of coffee, at least.”

“You trying to get me to stay the night, Smoak? Don’t you think it’s a little early in our relationship for that?”

Felicity snorted. “As much as I would love to spend the night with you,” she pursed her lips but continued on, “I’m only asking you to come in and watch a movie with me.”

Tommy leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “That sounds great.” He took the takeout box from her as she unlocked her door and smiled at her when she looked over her shoulder to give him a grateful look.

She toed off her shoes and tossed her purse onto the small table in the entryway before taking the box back from him. “Do you want some coffee or some wine or something? I probably have other things to drink, orange juice, soda, water. Of course I have water to drink, who doesn’t have water to drink?” She peeked around the corner to look at him, “So?”

“I’ll have whatever you’re having,” he said, settling onto her sofa. She nodded and poured two glasses of wine and handed him one before sitting down next to him and curling her feet under her. They decided to watch a couple episodes of Breaking Bad that she had on her media server, he’d never seen it and wondered what all the hype was about.

It was 1:30 by the time they finished the first four episodes, she was curled into his chest with his arm around her, so comfortable that she thought she could fall asleep like that. She walked him to her door, saying, “Thanks for the great night tonight, Tommy. Dinner was amazing.”

“It was my mom’s favorite restaurant, actually. I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he said softly. Felicity pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, she hadn’t realized he’d shared something so special with her. His eyes searched her face, landing on her lips, and he smiled. “So, it would be okay if I kissed you, right?” he asked as he brushed some hair behind her ear.

“I mean, yeah. We should at least do it once, for science,” Felicity said nonchalantly.

Tommy nodded gravely. “For science, then.” He took a step closer to her and tilted her chin up, his blue eyes burning into hers for just a moment before his lips finally brushed hers lightly, once, twice, then finally, finally, she thought, he leaned into the kiss, pulling her against him. Felicity made a noise in the back of her throat at his lips angled over hers expertly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him even closer, gasping as her back hit the wall. She felt the heat of his hand through her dress at her hip, his fingers bunching up the fabric tightly.

She moaned in protest when Tommy pulled away slowly, just as breathless as she was, and kissed the top of her head. “I should go.”

Felicity nodded in agreement. “That’s probably a good idea.”

Tommy ran a hand through his hair, a little disheveled already from her hands, “Right then. I’m just going to,” he gestured towards the door, leaning down to kiss her lightly one last time. So, maybe not a complete failure after all, she realized.

Thea and Carly grilled her about the date the next day over their weekly lunch. She didn’t want to bore them with the details, they wouldn’t be interested in the way his hand felt against the skin of her back when he led her to the car, the way he got flustered when he realized that her dress had cutouts. Or that she got goosebumps when his hand trailed down her arm when they cuddled together on the couch. Well, maybe they would be interested, but she wanted to keep those moments close to her heart.

“Is he a good kisser?” Carly asked. “He looks like he’d be a good kisser.”

Felicity cocked her head at Carly, while Thea said, “You know I had a crush on him for the longest time. He let me down easy though. You guys are going to be so good together. He’s the greatest. You’re not allowed to ever break up.”

“He’s a great kisser. I was ready to drag him off to my bedroom right then to have my way with him. Also, it’s weird to have our own personal shipper. We’ve been on one date. You’re making me a little uncomfortable,” Felicity said with a grin.

Thea scoffed. “Whatever. You love it.”

“Yeah, but maybe she doesn’t want to jinx it. I felt that way about John for a while,” Carly said. “I was afraid it might break me, but it would have really broken A.J.’s heart.”

“How is my little man doing? I haven’t seen him in forever,” Thea said as she twirled a fry through some ketchup.

“He’s good. He’s planning his birthday, which is in a couple of weeks. He’s very excited. John’s taking the kids to play laser tag, then back home for cake and ice cream.” She pointed a finger at Thea. “You are not allowed to buy him any extravagant gifts. I mean it.” Thea frowned and Felicity had to bite her lip to hold in her laughter.

“I’m sorry! I just, he really wanted that system…I should have asked first. But have you seen his face? It is impossible to say no to that face.” It was an argument that she and Carly had been having for two months, after Thea bought A.J. a Nintendo 3DS over the summer. She looked over at Felicity, desperate to change the subject. “So, you and Tommy are going out again, right?”

“On Wednesday,” Felicity confirmed. She thought about the work that she had coming up for the week, she was working on a few different projects, which made her think of Stellmoor. “Oh, Thea. I need to know, what do you know about QC? Right now, there isn’t really a CEO. There’s a company that wants to buy them out, and I’ll probably lose my job if they succeed.”

Thea shrugged. “I don’t know anything. Ollie has 45% of the shares. Dad wanted him to take control of the company. They aren’t going to let me step in, I’m too young, and I have no desire to do so anyway. I’m sorry. Oliver is the only one that can help you, as far as I know.”

A few days later, Tommy and Felicity’s second date was much better than the first. They went to a fall festival that was benefitting the Glades. He won her a stuffed bear when she challenged him to the water gun game and they stuffed their faces with cotton candy, hand feeding it to each other and licking the melted sugar off each other’s fingers.

“You want to ride the Ferris wheel with me?”

Felicity grinned. “You’re just going to pay the guy to stop it with us at the top so we can make out, aren’t you?”

“I’m not going to tell you all my secrets, Felicity.”

She pulled him in the direction of the Ferris wheel. “Well, come on then.” She was right. He did pay the operator to get them “stuck” for ten minutes at the top so they could make out like teenagers. Her hair was falling out of its ponytail and her lips were so red that she could barely meet the eyes of the operator as they exited the line, while she knew Tommy gave him a cheeky grin. The bastard.

Their third date, they went to dinner and a movie. She took him to a theatre that showed old movies once a week, and made him sit through 2001: A Space Odyssey.  
“It’s a classic. You have to watch it.” So, he’d agreed, and he said he didn’t hate it, but she had the feeling that he didn’t appreciate it as much as she wanted him to.

On their fourth date, he made her dinner at his place. Some gnocchi with asparagus, shrimp, and pesto. He bought her favorite red wine and ordered a few cannoli from the Italian restaurant they went to on their first date. She’d always wanted to date a guy who could cook.

When she knocked on the door, he opened it for her, quickly kissed her lips, and said, “Good timing. I just have to pull this pan off the stove. Come on in, make yourself comfortable.” Instead, Felicity followed him into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around his waist, dropping her head to his back. “You okay?” he asked her. She nodded into his back and smiled. “You sure?”

“Long day at work. Also, I’m happy to see you. And you’re cooking for me. That’s sweet.”

“I am pretty amazing.” He moved the skillet from the stove and turned it off, then turned in her arms and settled his hands on her hips.

“Mmm…Modest, too,” she said with a grin. She stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his jaw. “How was your day?”

“Good, but better now.” Tommy moved one of his hands to her jaw and bent down to kiss her softly on the lips. She returned his kiss eagerly, nipping at his bottom lip. Tommy moaned into her mouth, spinning her around to press her against the kitchen counter. She arched into him and he pulled away to press open mouthed kisses along her neck. “You are killing me, Felicity,” he growled into her skin.

“Maybe that was the plan,” she said breathlessly as she ran her hands under his shirt, her fingertips trailing down his stomach. She yelped and wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist when he cupped her ass and lifted her off the ground, carrying her into the bedroom. He set her down lightly on the bed, then settled himself on top of her, before bringing his mouth to meet hers again.

Tommy pulled away suddenly and looked down at her, his eyes searching hers. “Is this okay?”

She smiled softly, threading her fingers through his dark hair, “Very much, yes. If you stop, I’ll kill you.”

They didn’t actually eat dinner until much later. Tommy ended up serving it to her in his bed, while she was wearing his shirt and nothing else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, thank you to everyone for leaving comments/kudos. It means the world to me!


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my excellent beta, Girlwithsixsmiles!
> 
> Thank you, everyone, for reading, commenting, and leaving kudos. I appreciate it more than you could possibly know!

“Do you really think this is going to work?” Thea asked, her body thrown across Felicity’s bed, where she stared up at the ceiling.

“Like you said, Oliver is the only person that can help. I don’t know if I have any other options. I really don’t want to have to go job hunting again, I love my job. If there’s any way that I can save it, I’m going to have to try.” Felicity was deep into her closet, a walk-in (and part of the main draw to her apartment), looking for some clothes that she wouldn’t be too upset about if they got ruined. Why couldn’t he have run away to the Maldives or Cabo, anyway?

“Well, I hope he agrees to come back with you.”

“You and me both. If he doesn’t, then I might have to knock him out with a coconut and drag his ass back home.” She finally landed on some older jeans and a plain t-shirt that she wasn’t too attached to.

“And…is Tommy ok?” Thea asked hesitantly. Felicity knew that Thea was worried about Tommy and Oliver seeing each other again, and so was she, to be honest. There was a lot of hurt there, even if the roots of friendship were deep. Or because they were so deep.

“We talked, and he understands. He says he’s ok, but I don’t know for sure.” She’d known that she was going to have to go to Lian Yu to find Oliver for a few days, and told Tommy the plan the second she realized what she was going to have to do. She didn’t want there to be any secrets between them.

The night she told him, they ended up talking for hours about Laurel and Oliver, his father, what might happen if Oliver wanted to become the Hood again. She knew that it wouldn’t be an easy road, but it was one that she was willing to travel. More than willing, actually. Which scared her. She hadn’t been in a serious relationship since well before Oliver Queen came into her life a year ago. They hadn’t said those three words yet, but she had the feeling that they might get there one day.

Felicity peeked her head out of the closet to glance at Thea, who was sitting up and tracing a pattern on the quilt with her finger. “What’s wrong?”

“So, if Oliver comes back,” Thea started hesitantly, “and he becomes the vigilante again, which I know you’re sort of hoping for, because you did rebuild the Arrowcave and all, what’s going to happen?”

Felicity could tell there was a deeper question being asked there. She dropped what she was doing in the closet and sat down on the bed next to Thea. “What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s just, you and I have gotten so close, and I’m used to coming over here whenever I want, we spend every Sunday together,” Thea paused, and Felicity was struck by how young Thea seemed then. Sometimes she’d forget that Thea is seven years younger than her. After everything she’d been through, Thea just always seemed older than her 18 years.

Felicity wrapped an arm around the younger girl. “And you can still do that. I will always make time for you, no matter what. And Sundays will still be on. I promise.”

“Even if Oliver becomes the Hood again?”

“Even then. You can call me anytime, and I will drop what I’m doing, ok? And, don’t forget, if Oliver does become the Hood again, I’ll be right downstairs in Verdant. I’m sure Oliver would love to see you in the Arrowcave.”

Thea snorted. “I bet. He’d just get all growly.”

Felicity laughed. “Probably. And can you imagine the look on his face?”

“Well, if he didn’t want me to know, he would have taken care of removing all that stuff from the basement of Verdant before he left.”

“Exactly.” Felicity glanced at the clock across the room and nudged Thea with her elbow. “Speaking of which.”

“Yeah, yeah. I have to go manage the club, I know,” Thea said, waving her hand in the air. “Don’t think I don’t know that part of the reason that you want me gone is because Tommy is coming over tonight.” She gave Felicity an appraising look. “You do realize that he’s the person I wanted to set you up with, right?”

“No, actually, I didn’t. But it would have been a good choice.” Felicity smiled softly. “I really do like him, Thea. A lot.”

“See, if you would have just listened to me ages ago.”

“Uh huh, we know. Thea Queen, always right. I get it.”

***

Two days later, Tommy was getting worried. Felicity had told him that there would probably not be any cell reception on the island, and that she probably wouldn’t be able to get in touch with him until they landed. That hadn’t made him feel any better. But it was 2pm, Saturday afternoon, at Verdant, just like they agreed. Tommy and Thea were waiting for Oliver, Diggle, and Felicity to get home. Carly had to work, and Roy didn’t want to be there for Thea and Oliver’s big reunion in five months. He thought he’d give them space.

Something that Tommy was almost grateful for, knowing that things were already going to be awkward enough without Roy there. Plus, Thea hadn’t told Roy Oliver’s secret. Somehow they managed to keep that little part hidden from the younger boy, but they weren’t sure how he’d react. Especially since he’d been slightly obsessed with finding the vigilante before Oliver left town.

As if on cue, they heard the backdoor open, then slam, and they both turned in that direction from their barstools. Tommy looked over at Thea to make sure she was ok, and she gave him a nervous grin back. Oliver came through the door first, and mad as she was at him, Thea ran straight into his arms.

“Ollie! You’re home!” she smacked his arm lightly. “Don’t do that again.”

Oliver gave her a pained smile. “I’ll do my best, Speedy.” He nodded in Tommy’s direction. “Good to see you, Tommy.”

Tommy nodded back, too concerned with where his girlfriend was to pay attention to Oliver. Felicity pushed past Oliver and walked right into Tommy’s arms, wrapping her arms around his neck immediately. “Never ever let me do that ever again,” she mumbled into his chest.

Tommy looked over at Digg questioningly. “Bad trip?”

“I really, really don’t want to talk about it. Please tell me you brought me a change of clothes like I asked?” He nodded his head toward a bag that was sitting on a stool close by. “Oh, thank God.”

“I took Thea with me, she picked out your clothes. So, if you’re not happy with it…” Tommy trailed off and grabbed the bag, pushing it into her arms.

“I don’t even care. Thank you. I’ll be right back.” They were all silent as she ran off in the direction of the bathroom, and then he realized that Oliver was still staring at him.

“Good to see you home, Oliver,” Tommy said quietly, trying to break the ice.

Oliver nodded. “So, you all seem close.”

“We bonded over the summer,” Thea said, answering the unspoken question. “Felicity and Digg helped me with the club.”

“And they all kept me company during the healing process,” Tommy said, gesturing down at his leg. Though Felicity, more than the others, was by his side every day, if she could be. He knew it started out as guilt, a way to help him because she couldn’t stop the second earthquake, but it turned into a great friendship that he wouldn’t give up for anything.

“Well, I could use a drink. Anyone else?” Thea asked. She looked to Oliver and Diggle. “Do you think Felicity will want some wine or something else?”

“As it turns out, Felicity does not like planes. Or heights.” Diggle said in response.

“So, wine then,” Thea said with a nod. She grabbed the special bottle of wine from behind the bar and poured Felicity a nice sized glass, a soda for herself, and scotch for the men. “Drink up.”

“Oh, Dig, before I forget, I was wondering if you would mind looking over the applications for the new bouncers? I need to up the security here, and I think you would be the best person to help me with that,” Thea said quickly. Digg nodded in agreement and she gestured him to follow her into the manager’s office. “This will only take a minute, guys. We can go to dinner after.”

“Look at Thea, not drinking, being responsible with the club,” Oliver mused. “I suppose I have all of you to thank for that.”

“Well, you certainly don’t have yourself,” Tommy said lightly.

Oliver set his lips in a straight line and gave Tommy an appraising look. “And you and Felicity are, what exactly?”

“Together. Did you have a claim on her that I was unaware of?”

“What about Laurel?”

Tommy swallowed hard. “I will always, always love Laurel, Oliver. But she would want me to move on. Just like she’d want you to move on. Laurel would not want us to wallow in her death for the rest of our lives.”

“And now you’re with Felicity.”

“I can’t decide if you’re being territorial over Felicity or if you’re just upset about me moving on from Laurel, but I don’t want to fight with you about it, Oliver.” He didn’t think Oliver was jealous. The Oliver of five months ago was still hung up on Laurel, but he knew that Oliver didn’t like sharing generally.

“I…” Oliver shook his head. “I don’t know what to say to that.”

Felicity rejoined them then and immediately stood on her tiptoes to bring her lips to Tommy’s. “I’m sorry, I wanted to kiss you the second I saw you, but things happened on that island. Bad things. I’m so glad one of you thought to bring a toothbrush.”

Tommy chuckled and wrapped his arms around her tight, dropping a kiss on top of her head. “Bad things? You ok?”

“I’m fine. I just, I might have thrown up a little bit. You know, after jumping out of a plane. Which I didn’t know was going to happen. And then I almost got blown up, but Oliver went all Tarzan and saved me, so that was good. I’m still alive.”

“Congratulations,” Tommy said with a smirk. Felicity smiled at him then, a full-blown smile, and he had to smile back. “I’m glad you’re still alive, Smoak. We should celebrate.”

“Dinner tomorrow night? Will you cook for me, please?” Felicity asked with a pout.

“Is that really what you want?”

“It’s really what I want.”

“Ok then. I’ll cook for you tomorrow night.”

Oliver cleared his throat and Felicity nearly jumped out of her skin. Tommy could see the heat rising in her cheeks and he realized that she’d completely forgotten about Oliver. The person that she had literally just dragged home from an island, after jumping out of a plane and nearly getting blown up. If there had been any part of him that was still worried that she wanted Oliver after all this time, that right there would have erased it for him.

***

Over the next few weeks, everything was back to normal. Oliver was still refusing to don his vigilante getup, instead choosing to focus on his duties at Queen Consolidated. That all changed, however, when Thea was taken from the club one night. The second Tommy heard the first gunshot, he texted Oliver and Felicity, telling them they needed to get to Verdant as soon as possible. Roy did what he could to stop the Hoods from assaulting Thea, but in the end they still took her.

Felicity and Digg showed Oliver the rebuilt foundry, Felicity blushing when they noticed the salmon ladder that she had decided to keep around. She was grateful that Tommy had stayed upstairs to talk to the police officers, not sure of how awkward that would have been.

Oliver picked up an arrow and stared at it for a moment before saying, “If we’re going to do this, it has to be about Laurel and Tommy. I need to be the man they hoped I could be. This city needs something more than a vigilante just crossing names off a list.”

“It needs a hero, Oliver,” Diggle said quietly.

“It’s too bad the Hoods kind of ruined your nickname,” Felicity added.

“No, it’s good. I don’t want to be called the Hood anymore.” He looked up at them and smiled, twirling the arrow in his hand slowly. “Let’s get Thea back.” Felicity searched for the information as quickly as she could, finding the information about Jeff Deveaux, and getting it to Oliver.

Tommy joined them a few minutes later, finally escaping away from the cops. “They were looking for you, Oliver.” Oliver turned around, facing Tommy in his full gear. Tommy nodded at him and picked up the bow, handing it to Oliver. “Be careful.”

Felicity smiled at the gesture. They’d had extensive talks about the vigilante, and she’d hoped that she’d managed to convince Tommy that they were doing good things for the city. They all watched as Oliver rushed out of the foundry. Tommy squeezed Felicity’s shoulder. “They’re going to be fine.”

“She’s probably so scared, Tommy,” Felicity whispered.

“Yes,” he said honestly. “But Oliver is going to save her. Everything is going to be fine.” Less than an hour later, Thea texted Felicity from the police station, and they all breathed a sigh of relief. Tommy took Felicity’s hand and lead her out of the foundry, assuring her they could see Thea tomorrow.

When they got back to Felicity’s apartment, Tommy made some popcorn while Felicity changed into some comfortable sweats. This was her favorite thing, cuddling on the couch with Tommy at the end of a long day, just watching a movie and being together. 

She kissed his cheek when he gave her the bowl of popcorn and settled in next to her. “What do you want to watch?” She settled her head on his shoulder, smiling as he wrapped his arm around her tightly.

“I don’t care, whatever makes you happy.”

“This was a long day, something light and fluffy?” she flipped through her media server and settled on a comedy that she’d seen several times over.

A few hours later, Felicity woke up in her bed, wondering how she got there. She didn’t even remember finishing the movie and realized she must’ve fallen asleep on Tommy’s shoulder. It was then that she realized there was an arm around her waist, she rolled over to see Tommy giving her a sleepy smile. They hadn’t actually stayed the night together yet.

“You stayed,” Felicity whispered.

“Of course I did,” he whispered back before brushing his lips over hers. “Where was I going to go?”

**Author's Note:**

> Any and all feedback is appreciated. :) Also, I'm macyaudenstar on tumblr, if you want to stop by and say hi!


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